Where To Start

From stories of superheroes and villains to magical realms not unlike our own to sweeping historical fantasy, V.E. Schwab has a book for any kind of reader. In anticipation of her newest release and conclusion to the Villains trilogy, Victorious, we have rounded up a few of our favorite tales to get swept away in. For even more insight into the endless worlds of V.E. Schwab, check out her exclusive interview on B&N Reads and her Poured Over episode.

Known for his intricate worlds, complex characterization and wild imagination, Haruki Murakami has written epic feats of mythology and adventure and explored the intricacies of human nature. In celebration of his newest and most personal work, Abandoning a Cat, we’re looking back on a few of our favorite stories that established him as an unstoppable force in the literary world.

Award-winning author Stephen Graham Jones is known for telling captivating horror stories with themes of identity and history, often pulling inspiration from his own heritage as a member of the Blackfeet Nation. With his upcoming novel, Off the Reservation, on the horizon, dive into his exceptional storytelling with books like The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, a highly lauded account of a vengeful vampire, The Only Good Indians, a psychologically haunting tale and more.

Jodi Picoult keeps her readers hooked with emotionally driven tales that focus on complex characters who face difficult choices. From a small-town tragedy in Nineteen Minutes to the ambitious story of art and courage in By Any Other Name, dive into one of Picoult’s thought-provoking stories ahead of her upcoming novel, Hollow Bones.

Whether you’ve always wanted to join Percy Jackson on a quest or are looking for the perfect Rick Riordan book to introduce your child to, we want to make it easy. Here’s the best reading order:

Miss Jane Marple is the lead sleuth in nearly a dozen of Christie's beloved mysteries, making her one of the most popular amateur detectives in fiction. Lucy Foley brings Miss Marple back for a tantalizing new tale in Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, so here are the must-read Marple stories to introduce yourself ahead of time.

Whether it’s the women of Sydney in Big Little Lies, the prestigious Delaney family in Apples Never Fall, or the lavish guests at a remote wellness retreat in Nine Perfect Strangers, Moriarty seamlessly weaves plot and characters for her edge-of-your-seat dramas that will keep you guessing until the very end. If you're looking to dive into her thought-provoking stories, here is the best place to start.

Beginning with his award-winning debut Native Speaker, the visionary author explores themes of identity, memory, love and belonging in his iconic works, including On Such a Full Sea, The Surrendered and more. Explore Chang-rae Lee’s remarkable body of work as we eagerly anticipate the release of his new book A Tender Age.

As anticipation builds for her new book Partita, now is the perfect time to explore Barbara Kingsolver's books one hand-picked recommendation at a time.

Station Eleven author Emily St. John Mandel returns this fall with Exit Party a novel of dystopian chaos. Now is the perfect time to discover the Mandelverse, where her characters, places, phrases and concepts overlap in a constellation of compelling stories. You don't have to read them all in order; you'll find some familiar characters dispersed throughout her all-consuming universe.

With vivid detail and elegantly weaved prose, Maggie O’Farrell builds deeply human characters and richly layered settings. Capturing anything from love and grief to scents and textures, her novels like This Must Be the Place and The Hand that First Held Mine bring the ordinary to life with vibrant detail. Her moving historical tale, Hamnet […]

As we head into the 250th anniversary (the semiquincentennial, if you will) of the beginning of the Civil War, we’re revisiting the books of a bestselling and highly acclaimed historian who’s studied it closely. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Atkinson is back with the second book in his Revolution Trilogy, The Fate of the Day. This […]

With the release of acclaimed author Hang Kang’s latest novel just a few days away, we’re braving the January cold by curling up with her incredible books. Awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature for “her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life,” Kang has a knack for […]

“The worst was yet to come, he knew. Already he could feel a world of trouble waiting for him behind the next door, but the worst that could have happened was also already behind him; the thing not done, which could have been — which he would have had to live with for the rest […]

Scary stories, haunted houses and ghastly ghouls are top of mind this spooky season, and we have just the books for it. New York Times best-selling novelist and screenwriter Grady Hendrix is known for his terrifying stories about witchy girls, invasive vampires, scream queens and other things that go bump in the night. If you’ve […]